#clearly I need more body horror in my otome...

[astracora]

Everytime I listen to The Line, I get a vivid mental image of MC sacrificing themselves to save the boys from their fate, and turning into a wanderer, then fading into nothing.

[romeoandcinderellas]

⇨ ᴀᴄᴛ ᴏɴᴇ

───── ･ ｡ﾟ★:•˚☆

“So today I have a very special game today! My childhood friend Chase or better known as gamingwatch let me have early access to his new otome game called ‘After Midnight’ which will be released next week on monday! We’ll be playing for a few hours of it before hopping onto the horror games, what do we think chat?”

Y/N or better known has Bewitched which was her username for streaming, said as she looked over at the chat seeing a bunch of spams of yes’s and please. 

Moon soon started the game up as a loading screen that said After Midnight popped up. Moon soon looked at chat as she made small talk before starting. Donations came in with the numbers exceeding to $1 - $60 nothing more than that. 

       ThatOneBewitchedFan donated $25!

    ”you know the creator gamingwatch!?!?” 

Y/N looked at the screen and smiled. “I do! Chase as been my friend ever since kindergarten, he always told me he wanted to be a game developer and make games for me since I wanted to be a streamer. I didn’t think he would remember all that until he actually did major software engineering!”

Y/N smiled at the camera and chat before looking at the framed of her and chase as kids. Chase was holding her close to him as he took the picture of them on his digital camera. Y/N could remember it clearly. 

  “Anyway! I think chatter time ended who’s ready to play the game!?

✩.･*:｡────────⋆♡⋆───────.•*:｡✩

”okay guys, I think so far I like kenny, I don’t know! This is hard! I also like Charlie! Maybe James too!” I smiled as I click on the pause button which the screen pauses having Kenny, Charlie, and James on it. 

               TheBestOfTheBest donated $30!                                   “You only like Kenny and James because one is flirtatious and one is sweet”

”hey! I do not!” Y/N said as she giggled while trying to play serious

                 GhostTown donated $2!                        “Yes you do, we know ur type Bewitched”

“Yall are stalkers I swear!” I giggled as the chat started denying and saying my type was obvious. “What time is it chat?” I looked over seeing it was 9:35pm “oh crap! We went past the horror games! I’m so sorry guys!” 

“It’s okay Y/N!”

”this game is getting good don’t stop!”

”we can play horror games tomorrow!”

”are you sure guys? We can go to horror games!”

”play more!”

”more? Okay! Let’s go! I wanted to know what happens with Kenny and Charlie’s fight”

✩.･*:｡────────⋆♡⋆───────.•*:｡✩

After a few hours the Y/N ended her stream since it was getting late out for her and she needed to do shopping tomorrow. She stretched in her chair before getting up. 

   “Maybe stopping by the gas station isn’t a bad idea, I’m craving for some ready made food and a slushie”

 I get up soon being quiet as ever trying not to wake Chase up since he was already asleep. I tiptoe out of there grabbing my keys and shoes and then head out locking the door quietly as possible. 

  I walk to the gas station that was near Chase and I’s apartment, thank the universe for the gas station near us. The only downside was the construction that was still going on at 1am. I guess they have to finish by morning.  

Arriving at the gas station I get the food and drink I want and go to pay like normally. Gathering my things that I bought and soon exit walking slow since I was eating my food. as I did so I hear cracking of a branch, looking behind me I see sticks and tree branches fall, I moved out of the way since I didn’t want to be hit by one. 

“What bullshit, didn’t have the nerve to even say anything?”

I shook my head continuing to eat but before I good even drink the slushie I got I hear scream out watch out like bloody murder, I look to my left to see a tree begin to break and fall, I felt my body stiffen up as I covered myself knowing that wouldn’t do much and braced for impact. 

It was silent at first, soon wind started to come as I hear a voice

”is she okay!?”

”I told you to leave her alone James!”

”oh shut up Kenny!”

”hurry! Just get her out of the street! That soccer ball must’ve hit her hard! Who even kicked it!?”

”holy shit! I’m so sorry!”

”Goddamnit David! Watch were you’re kicking next time! You hit Y/N!”

”shit I didn’t mean too!”

I groaned as I opened my eyes seeing four boys look at me. I rubbed my eyes as my vision cleared up seeing it was Kenny, Charlie, James and David. 

“What the hell? What happened?”

 ”oh thank fuck you’re awake! David kicked his soccer ball and it hit you, are you alright Y/N?”

Y/N sat up and looked around seeing her surroundings. 

“Oh my god.”

[darkmindsotome]

Risque Rouge pt12

Tagging: @umbralaperture​ @otome-smut-queen @silver-fox-of-azuchi @tsundere-mitsuhide @jennacat84

General warnings for the whole fic: Angst, some fluff, Mental health issues, emotional things, trauma, blood, death and possible triggers. Please read responsibly. 

Darkmindsotome Masterlist

---

Chapter 12

A new voice echoed in the hallway. It was calm, cold and commanding in a way that had each of them turning to face the new arrival. Standing at the end of the dark red carpeting, outlined in a halo of candlelight stood her benefactor.

“Comte?” His golden eyes flickered in her direction as she called his name before returning to fix themselves on the two other men and the drawn rapier.

“Jean?” Comte's voice was a freezing wind as he addressed the soldier. Evie hadn’t missed or imagined the way that Jean tensed back up at the sight of Comte’s arrival or the twitch in their hand as they were addressed.

“I have nothing to say. Excusez-moi.” Jean replaced his sword with such a practised flourish she almost missed it. As he turned on his heel to walk away, he glanced at her with that same look of remorse she thought she saw before. It left her wondering if she was really seeing what she thought she was or if it was her imagination. Why on earth would someone look at someone they just met and look as if they were grieving?

“Nothing at all we were just having a friendly little chat.” The Englishman’s voice had lost its playfulness to the point where Evie almost did a double-take that it was the same man.

“Arthur, I believe you were out all day today I trust I shan’t be receiving any interesting reports from town about you and your escapades?” Comte was walking towards them now.

The calming warm shades she associated with him seemed to also be part of his nightwear. A rich chocolate brown velvet robe with quilted cuffs and lapels covered a set of caramel pyjamas. His usual dress shoes had been replaced with a pair of black slippers, the soft souls seemed to explain why they had not heard his approach.

“Perish the thought, Comte. I was just becoming acquainted with this charming young lady.” The man gave what would have been a convincing display of being offended had it not been for the grandiose way he went about it. There was no warmth to Comte’s smile as he moved to stand by her side, his eyes never leaving Arthur.

“In that case, I should be happy to help. Arthur this is Genevieve my new guest I trust I do not have to remind you of what will happen should something untoward happen to her?” Comte’s words seemed cordial but there was a warning edge to them.

“Naturally. It seems the little bird is more of a Princess. I shall retire to my room and take my leave.” Arthur began to walk towards his own room only to stop as if he had just remembered something and spun around to look at Evie again with a broad mischievous smile. “Oh! If you should change your mind? You only have to call my name and I’ll be more than happy to—”

“Arthur…” Comte almost growled and the air felt like it might freeze. Evie shuddered even though none of the focus of such irritation was on her. Arthur gave a short burst of laughter that sounded almost like barking as he entered a room closing the door as he went leaving the pair alone in the hallway.

“I don’t think I can begin to explain any of what just happened.” Evie spoke mostly to herself, raising one hand to rub her eye that had begun to feel dry and in need of sleep.

“A rather common occurrence where Arthur is concerned.” Comte nodded in understanding. The unusual atmosphere from before fading like a dream around them. “Ma Cherie, why are you in the hallway at this time of night?”

Evie turned to look at Comte the harsh coldness she didn’t associate with him melted before her eyes. It was replaced with a questioning look that managed to be both concerned and reproachful at the same time.

“I was going to get a drink from the kitchen. I’m sorry.” She explained feeling like a child that had worried a parent.

All she was trying to do was one simple thing and everything she did seemed to just cause no end of problems. Her mood once more soured as she found she could not hold his gaze and instead focused on the glass in her hand.

Comte felt terrible. He was already aware she was feeling emotional. He had sensed as much which was why he had left his room in order to search for her. Hopes of finding her in her room alone had been dashed as soon as he heard the voices echoing in the empty corridors and he found his feet naturally quickened to reach their source. Standing by her now he could clearly see she was unsettled and wanted to kick himself for adding to her burden. He placed his hand over hers the coldness of the glass brushing his fingers as he slipped it from her grasp.

“You have nothing to apologise for now be a good girl and return to your room. I shall be back shortly.” He didn’t wait for her reply as he took her glass and vanished as quickly as he had arrived.

As she closed the door to her room behind her, she found her eyes travelling to all the darkened corners and shadows. She could not honestly say one way or another how she had felt about the company she had discovered on her search for refreshment but now she was alone her mind seemed determined to wander that tormented path that had woken her.

Her feet carried her to her bed where she took a seat on the edge of the mattress feeling it sink beneath her. That was when she felt her stomach growl and it was like she was back in that moment. The scent of blood, the burning that was only growing with each mouthful she consumed. She shook her head trying to chase away the whispered horrors and focus.

A knock on her door returned her to the present and announced the return of Comte who entered carrying a small tray in his hands with a cup and bottle neatly balanced in its centre. If she had not met Sebastian and been told he was the butler it would have been easy to imagine Comte fitting such a role himself.

“Pardonnez-moi, that took longer than I intended and I thought warm milk might be better. I shall have Sebastian supply a carafe of water for you tomorrow.” Comte set the tray down and handed a pleasantly warm cup to her. She filled her lungs with the steam finding it smelt sweeter than it should. “I added some honey to help calm you.”

“I don’t want to cause any extra worry for anyone.” Evie said shyly taking a sip of the warm drink. It was soothing and as if chasing this source of comfort Evie found she had gulped down the entire thing without realising it.

“I fear I would worry more knowing you are wandering around alone at night ma petite.” Comte gently patted her head. The sensation that had alerted him in the first place to something being wrong was still present and he was powerless to deny he found it concerning. “Is something wrong?”

“I… I keep seeing it. I know I did it and I know it was wrong. These memories have every right to haunt me it is my punishment I shouldn’t –” It was as if the comforting drink had loosened her tongue, everything that she had held back started to pour from her.

What was done was done she could not change it. She saw forgetting such events as a deplorable crime worse than her own actions. Taking a life, even one that had meant her harm, pulled on the strings of her heart filling her soul with a crushing symphony of despair.

Showing very little concern for his usual level of propriety Comte decided there were worse things than entering a room without gaining permission and ignoring her when she required comforting was one of them. He took the cup from her shaking hands and pulled her into his side as he took a seat next to her on the edge of her bed.

Evie’s head fell naturally into his chest she could hear his heartbeat that was pounding out a much calmer rhythm than her own. Comte’s hand found her hair, his fingers running through it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Evie, you have every right to think as you do. I will not step in the way of you and your beliefs but I can tell you there is more to this than you are aware. It does not excuse it but it does explain a great deal. I wish I could remove your pain and suffering Princess but somethings are beyond even my power.” His sincere wish felt like she had been pierced in her chest with something sharp and unpleasant.

She pulled back from his embrace it was an action he found he hated but he released his grip on her allowing her to do as she wished.

“I’m scared, Comte. I’m worried all you have done will be for nothing if whatever is inside me forces its way out again. How I might hurt someone here… I might even hurt you.”

When she looked up at him her curious eyes that had been filled with wonder now showed only the watery depths of oblivion and fear. His heart gave a sluggish lurch in his chest seeing her suffering, knowing that the truth would soon have to be told before she destroyed herself in ignorance.

“Hush Cherie.” He cooed and dragged her back to him. It was not his most gentlemanly moment in his recent memory but he had reached his limit. She was shaking, the tears trapped in her eyes lingered refusing to fall as he returned to stroking her hair. “Those are concerns for tomorrow now it’s time to sleep. If it helps, I’ll stay right here until you fall asleep.”

As frightened as she was that she might cause harm to him she was more scared of being alone right now. She gave a shaky sigh as she tried to still her body and allow the exhaustion to carry her back to slumber.

“Thank you.”

Comte held her until he felt her body relax and her breathing turned shallow. He didn’t mention it earlier after her revelation of what her troubles were but he had noticed she was running a temperature after his return from the kitchen.

Awakenings can be unpredictable things. Some took to it like a duck to water while others struggled to find a balance. He had never met another pure blood that was anything like her. It presented him with a hole in his knowledge of what to expect. She would have been through this before at birth but to have to go through it again seemed like a cruel punishment.

He groaned at his own inability to help and moved her on the bed so she could be more comfortable. He left her side to retrieve a small bottle on the tray he carried into the room. The swirling white liquid clung to the glass in a way her medicine never had. This was pure unadulterated Blanc and judging by the feeling he was still sensing from her it was required. He had not so much hidden the object as ignored it until an opportune moment. To be honest he was rather worried that she might react badly to the sight of it after everything she had been through.

The moon reappeared from behind a cloud filling the room with a soft white light as if it were placing a spotlight on the room. There was a sound of muffled pain that had him looking back at the bed seeing Evie twisting against the sheets.

Returning to her side, he slipped one arm under her tilting her just enough so she would not choke and pressed the uncorked bottle in his hand to her lips. The Blanc vanished quickly as her sleeping body fed automatically. There were fine beads of sweat glistening on her neck as the artery pulsed against the skin. Comte placed a hand on her forehead chuckling as she stilled and turned her face into his palm.

“Sweet dreams Princess.” Reluctantly he pulled his hand away and replaced her cup and the bottle on the tray, taking both with him as he left the room and the now peaceful girl behind.

---

[teddystrap]

Drama CD: [SEVENTH HEAVEN] Vol.3 -Itsuki-

[Synopsis] The Seventh Heaven are the 7 Gods of Death who can deliver people into a blissful death by serenading them with their songs. They only appear to those who truly wish to die. Once they have been seen, you have to stay with them in their Hiiragi Mansion until the final moment of death arrives...

*

You wake up in an unfamiliar room, and Itsuki (CV. Takahashi Naozumi) is waiting anxiously by your bedside. To his surprise, you had tried to take your own life by drowning yourself in the creepy river in the woods or whatever, so he brought you here and changed you out of your wet clothes.

As you keep staring at his face, at first he thought you were hungry (#logic), then later he realises... OMG you don't recognise him anymore. He's your long-time childhood friend, whom you just hung out with this morning!! AND! You promised to make his favourite plain omelettes next time!!!! NOOOOOOO~~~

After collecting himself, he apologises for his overreaction and re-introduces himself to you. Apparently you forgot who he was after arriving at Hiiragi Mansion. He also tells you that he is actually a God of Death, who can sing you into the next world.

Morning. He comes to look for you and *escorts* you to the rose garden, explaining to you the flower meanings: red rose = 'I AM DYING TO GET WIT U BAE'. But before he could warn you, you already tried to pick the rose and ofc cut your finger on its thorns. (Wouldn't be an otome story without the heroine injuring herself like a 3-year-old and her guy coming to the rescue, amirite?)

He disinfects and slaps a band-aid on you, and you apologise for being a clumsy idiot and giving him trouble. Then you get this super constipated look on your face,... and turns out you wanted to ask how he became your childhood friend as a God of Death.

Basically: Itsuki was reallllly bored with taking lives and singing death ballads all day erryday, so then Kanade (his boss) told him that there is an ultra-pure soul nearby who will end up taking her own life. He decided to seek out this soul, and he came to meet you when you were still a baby. Not only could you see him, but also you were all like ヽ(*ﾟ∀ﾟ)ﾉｱﾋｬﾋｬ when you saw him.

So then he was all like ｱﾋｬﾋｬﾍ(ﾟ∀ﾟ*)ﾉ too, and he asked Kanade to allow him to live close to you disguised as a human. After doing *many favours* for Kanade (fufufufufu), Kanade finally agreed, and that's how Itsuki became the Boy Next Door whom you grew up with.

But he also made a promise with Kanade, that when you finally choose to come to Hiiragi Mansion, he would do his job and sing you the death lullaby to send you on your way. At first he kept guessing if your time has come when you were feeling down or depressed, but as time passed, he began to want to cheer you up when you cry and not let anything hurt you. He even wished that you would be the happiest person in the world, and that he could appear before you as a normal man.

...You have a dream where Itsuki went to great lengths to win you a rare special teddy bear that you really wanted. He teases you a bit as he gives it to you and reminds you that today is your birthday. Just then you get a msg alert on your phone, and he gets a bit jealous thinking it's from another guy.

As his childhood friend, you have promised to spend this day with him, and he makes you promise to spend your birthday together every year. Then he asks you to be his girlfriend, and pretends to be hurt by your surprised reaction. He confesses that he has strong feelings for you for a long time now, and says he will wait for your answer...

You wake up to the clock chiming and Itsuki telling you 'I'VE BEEN WATCHING U SLEEP' (´◉◞౪◟◉). You tell him that you dreamt about him, and after wrestling with his own sense of embarrassment for a while, he admits that the dream really happened, and asks if you are ready to answer him now. (At the time, you told him that you needed time to think about it.)

He adds that he doesn't want to lose you to other guys, and he doesn't want you to go anywhere - including to the next world. He asks you to dump all your pain on him and tell him that you want to live on.

You nod in reply, which makes him happy, and he reveals his *big plan*: Apparently, the Seventh Heaven have one chance to save a human soul by rejecting their own purpose / authority as Gods of Death while singing their death ballad. He found this out by sneaking into Kanade's room and peeking at confidential documents, and he was planning to do this regardless of your wishes.

You ask what's going to happen to *him* if he does this, and he tells you not to worry about that. (Probably just... become Kanade's sex slave forever XDD.) He says that you will lose your memory and forget about him afterwards anyway, and you make a super #sadpanda face in response. So he quickly comforts you by saying that he won't let that happen, or else he will just re-introduce himself until you remember.

At dusk, you go to the rooftop and see him there. The two of you do some deep breathing exercises that devolved into a tickle fight, which gives you a good chance to fondle his man pecs (*by accident* hehehehe ლ（ ^ิ౪^ิ ლ）). Then he notices that something's on your mind - clearly, it's about Operation Soul Saving.

To put your mind at ease, he tells you again not to worry, and asks you if there's anything you want to do. You want to fondle other parts of him a hug, which he happily gives to you. You also question if he has sent any other woman to the next world with his death ballad, and your jealousy pleases him. He tells you that he was always thinking of YOU when he was doing it (by which I mean *singing*, get your mind out of the gutter ffs) to other women.

The hug made him so...umm... happy, that he wanted to take you right there and then. But ofc you cockblock him, so he excuses himself and goes back to his room to cry and jerk off to porno cool his head.

ONE DAY, he finds you chopping ingredients in the kitchen. Turns out you are making his favourite plain omelettes!! He is overjoyed and devours your dish in 2 seconds. Btw, as a God of Death he has no taste buds, but the omelettes made him *feel* good anyway even though it tasted like nothing lmao.

The truth is, you cooked for him as thanks for his plan to save your soul. You ask if there's anything else he wants, and he hesitates before finally revealing that he wants... more of you. Regular hugs are not enough for him anymore; he wants to hug you with his dick too. As a God of Death, he would make a good partner because he will outlive you for sure and you won't ever have to worry about being widowed. #convincingargumentlol. He asks you to think about it and give him your reply the following night.

The night of the full moon, the clock strikes and you come to see him for your death ballad time / big plan. He grabs you and insists on making you his because he just CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMOAR OMGGG:

Him: I'm going to do it... [Me: ( ´థ౪థ) ] Him: ...kiss you. [Me: (-_-||) ] Him: I'm *really* going to do it... [Me: ( ´థ౪థ) ] Him: ...kiss you. [Me: (-_-*#||||||||||) ]

(Cue slurping kissing sounds X1000)

Finally, he makes you promise to tell him how you feel when you wake up after his death ballad.

...

But ultimately his plan failed, you never woke up again. After frantically shaking you, it hits him that you are a goner. A crow cawing in the background alerts him that it was all Kanade's doing. He cries that Kanade has robbed him of everything and vows revenge, as he realises in horror that the amnesia is setting in and he is starting to forget your name...

[recentanimenews]

An Explorer's Guide to the Wonderful World of Visual Novels

Visual novels! Once decried as a “niche” by the masses, they have slowly but surely wormed their way into video games as a whole. Persona became a visual novel, then Fire Emblem. Now Saya no Uta, Gen Urobuchi's disturbing cult “classic” (?!) is available on Steam to stumble upon. There are fewer barriers than ever before to experiencing this varied, historic and often misunderstood medium.

    But where to begin? Some visual novels are very long. Others are quite lewd. A number of them (even the ones people love) front-load their most boring material at the beginning, and save the best moments for the last hour of what can be twenty or thirty-hour games. Picking up Saya no Uta without being primed for the extremes of the medium is a recipe for despair. But don't be afraid! Many of the best visual novels being made today are only a few hours long, encompass many approaches and genres, and are acceptable for all ages. In this piece I will lay out a path that you, dear reader, may follow into the thickets. Some things to keep in mind:

1. Every one of the games featured here is legally avaliable in English. If you know Japanese and are willing to spend some money, feel free to experiment on your own!

2. The games featured here range from appropriate for teenagers, to appropriate for mature audiences. Content warnings will be marked as needed. That said, almost none of these games feature the kind of graphic sex you'd see in old-school titles like Fate/Stay Night; the exception is the final title, included for completionism, which is truly sordid and not appropriate for anybody (but I like it).

3. While I've had some experience with the medium, BL and otome games are huge blind spots of mine, so I won't embarrass myself by pretending expertise! If you're interested in exploring those fields, I've heard good things about Code: Realize (get the collector's edition with the extra content!), Hatoful Boyfriend and (if you're OK with some NSFW material) Coming Out on Top.

With that said, let us being our journey!

  SHORT AND SWEET:

  These games last about two to three hours, but will stick with you longer than that. Don't assume these are “beginner games” simply because they are short! I could argue that collectively, the three titles here are the best on this list.

    Butterfly Soup is Brianna Lei's follow-up to her cult success Pom Gets Wi-Fi. It's free! It's also one of the most acclaimed visual novels ever by the mainstream games press, scoring praise from folks like Patricia Hernandez and Steve Gaynor. As for what it's about: it's the story of four girls on their high school softball team, two of them are in love, and there are many funny jokes. I found the ending to be abrupt, but if you're looking for good vibes and some much-needed encouragement to stay true to yourself, I highly recommend this game. Plus it references Matt Mullholland's excellent “My Heart Will Go On” performance, which earns it extra points in my book.

  Content warnings: Brief depictions of parental and physical abuse (no visuals!), ableist slurs.

    We Know the Devil is “what if Kelly Link wrote Revolutionary Girl Utena?” Plenty of anime and games channel that energy (my beloved What A Beautiful visual novel series among them) but few do so as succinctly and distinctively as Aevee Bee, Mia Schwartz and their team do in this game. The result is a punk, unsettling take on magical girl stories set in a Christian summer camp, featuring sneaky world-building and some striking body horror. You'll feel for the cast and their struggles, and cheer in the True Ending when everything goes completely off the rails.

  Content warnings: Psychological and body horror, alienation of queer youth in a religious setting, freaky music.

    EXTREME MEATPUNKS FOREVER is a game about gay antifascist folks fighting fascists across the desert while riding giant robots made of meat. It's the equivalent of a zine you'd pick up at a fair, willing to dive into messy topics most games shy away from and wholly uninterested in sanding away any rough spots. The music is great too! Play this game if you want to beat up Nazis in a giant meat machine called ROOTS AMONG ASH.

  Content warnings: Body horror, mentions of self harm and abuse, suicidal ideation, alcohol, gender dysphoria, loss of bodily autonomy, apocalyptic ideation. For mature audiences!

NICE AND MEATY:

  These games are a good bit longer, ranging from five to fifteen hours to beat. If you enjoyed the earlier entries and want more, try some of these!

  The House in Fata Morgana is a bonafide cult classic, a game made by a small studio that earned itself a legion of die-hard fans in the visual novel space. At first glance it's an entertaining genre pastiche, four tales of doomed love centering around a cursed mansion. But read past the first four chapters, and suddenly the real story comes to the fore—the tale of two ordinary people and a love that lasts for centuries. Fata Morgana takes some huge swings, tackling societal oppression, intersexuality, recovering from past trauma and learning to move on from those who have wronged you without having to forgive them. Its success at landing these swings likely depends on the reader, but I found Fata Morgana's heart to be in the right place. Couple that with one of the best soundtracks in video games, and you have an experience that is worth it even at 0% off.

  Content warnings: incest, domestic violence, racist and sexist remarks, psychological manipulation, homophobic and transphobic remarks, sexual assault, child abuse. For mature audiences!

    Heart of the Woods is, as of yet, the most ambitious game made by Studio Elan. It's a supernatural mystery where two adult women travel to a small town in the cold and dark to investigate some strange occurrences. What they find leads to unexpected romance, but also incredible danger. Heart of the Woods is sweet, it's funny (Tara is hilarious!) and as has come to be a running theme in this piece, the music is excellent, courtesy of Sarah Mancuso and Kris Flacke. Heart of the Woods is a game made by people who clearly have a lot of affection for visual novels as a medium, but had enough discretion to snip out the bits they weren't fond of. It also comes with a plethora of accessibility options, allowing you to customize everything from the text to the music to your needs.

  Content warnings: Parental abuse, alcohol, light horror elements, some sex scenes you can enable with an optional R-18 patch. For mature audiences!

    As for Seabed, it's... yuri ASMR? It's difficult to describe, as the appeal of this one for me isn't so much the story—which is intriguing, but very slow-paced—as it is the feel of it. Everything from the music, to the sound effects, to the text, contributes to a languid feeling unlike every other game in the medium I have played. Seabed won't be for everyone, but few titles match its distinctive atmosphere.

  Content warnings: alcohol, partial nudity. At least one sex scene that isn't too explicit by the standards of the medium. For mature audiences!

  THE DEEP END:

  These games range in length from fifteen hours to fifty... and beyond! If you're looking for the experience your Japanese-speaking friends fell in love with back in the days of fan translations and frantically searching online for information on Type-Moon properties, this is it! 

    Imagine that you have an idea for a great Japanese TV-drama, but you decide to make it as a visual novel instead. Wanting to produce as authentic an experience as possible, you hire actors and have them act out every scene in your script as you take multiple photographs depicting every twist and turn in the plot. Imagine the sheer amount of time and labor it would require. Then multiply it by five, let the player switch between these narratives with the ease of hitting a button on a gamepad, and tie them together into a vast meta-narrative. That's 428: Shibuya Scramble, one of the most ambitious visual novels ever created and a game that was famously awarded a score of 40 by the Japanese games rag Famitsu. Despite having an enormous and complicated script, it was localized into English just a year ago. Don't miss out on this bizarre and fascinating video game! If you're a fan of the Yakuza series, you'll be right at home with 428's brand of lunacy.

  Content warnings: Violence, drugs, alcohol, some bad language.

    Umineko: When They Cry is a lot.  A gonzo mystery story that starts as a riff on And Then There Were None, it swiftly mutates into a hundred-hour game of four-dimensional chess. It was made by a small team, scored by the music of the gods, and is fully committed throughout to its brand of sentiment, metaphysical rambling and extreme horror. Some might say that Umineko is overwrought, but that is the point: the game is memorable for its excess, not despite of it. If you're looking for a taste of the full VN experience, complete with shocking twists, a weird obsession with trivia and far too many words, this is the most authentic you can find that's appropriate for all audiences. Please play with the original art! It's charming.

  Content warnings: Parental abuse, blood and gore, people getting killed and suffering fates worse than death at the hands of witches (???). For mature audiences!

    And now we come to [NSFW] Wonderful Everyday, everything your anxious friend told you about visual novels. It's not just that Wonderful Everyday has sex scenes, it's that it takes less time to list what triggering and problematic content is not in the game than what is in it. It references Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and Cyrano de Bergerac. The game isn't afraid to take huge, unexpected shifts in tone and aesthetic in order to scare or destabilize the player. You might be wondering: why recommend a game like this, which many would find morally abhorrent? All I can say is that Wonderful Everyday is the game that convinced your Japanese-speaking friends to read Wittgenstein. It's a cult classic, a title unavailable in English for years that came with the highest praise imaginable: that it was a profound work of art, that it would change your way of thinking forever. After finally playing through the game two years ago, my feelings were more mixed; but there's no mistaking that few games better personify the visual novel medium's eccentricities, indulgences or shoot-for-the-moon ambition than this shaggy, gross, but fascinating video game.

  Content warnings: suicide, psychological and body horror, multiple variants of sexual assault, extreme bullying, extreme violence, bestiality (thankfully cut down for release in the US!), a transgender character who is handled in a pretty specious way. Many graphic sex scenes. For very mature audiences!

  There's even more great titles out there that I couldn't fit on this list! The high stakes and interface-shattering plot twists of 999. The countless games being made in engines like Ren'Py, Choice of Games and Twine. South Korean visual novels like Nameless and Mystic Messenger. No matter what kind of person or reader you may be, there is a visual novel out there somewhere for you. I wish you luck in your endless journey of discovery!

  Are you a fan of visual novels? Do you have any (safe for work, if possible) recommendations? Please let us know in the comments!

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Adam W is a features writer at Crunchyroll. When he isn't eagerly awaiting the announcement of the Girls' Work anime by Type Moon, he sporadically contributes with a loose coalition of friends to a blog called Isn't it Electrifying? Follow him on twitter at: @wendeego

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[koganeirou]

Ikemen Revolution - Lancelot’s Route

Aight I did a review with my awful commentary for Sirius; I might as well do one for Lancelot since I just finished his route. Unfortunately this ended up being WAYY longer than the one I did for Sirius so there’s gonna be a lot of walls of texts with just my awful commentary. Sorry! To anyone that actually gets through the massive walls of text, I respect you.

Somehow, Alice gets pawned off to a nameless no face body guard as she strolls around the streets because the Black Army guys are busy having a movie night or something. And you know what happens when your body guard is nameless and faceless. BASICALLY: it’s as if he doesn’t exist!

And what do you know, their lovely intimate getaway is interrupted by none other than Edgar, our favourite, friendly neighborhood kidnapper (of Lance’s route) who threatens to cut the poor chap into bits and pieces unless Alice comes with him. 

Our snarky escort drags Alice by the hair as she kicks and screams brings her back to Red Army HQ where she meets Lancelot. 

First (or second) meeting and they are clearly hitting it off great because the first thing Lance does is grab Alice and starts singing “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”.

But huh what does this remind me of.

Oh.

(He sees you when you’re sleeping; he knows when you’re awake). Totally not creepy!

Lancelot essentially puts Alice in total house arrest where she’s locked up in her bedroom that’s connected with his so he can watch her every move  (◉◞౪◟◉｀) . He even flaunts his authority by pinning her on the bed and almost kissing her (too bad doing that is more likely gonna make me horny on main that scared but whatever).

But it’s all good because this door will later come into use in the route when Lance tries to lock Alice out of his room to mope alone but Alice just strolls in through his side door and goes like “’sup” and he’s like “fuck I forgot that door existed”. 

HOLDS YOU....

Considering how the King, Queen and Jack are a triple combo of assholes, at least Zero is there to give our poor heroine some much needed comfort and friendship. I find it hilarious how Alice’s sad ass has been dumped into Red Army HQ by Edgar and Kyle and Zero are just like “oh yea just another Tuesday with Edgar, but hey, let’s be friends!” 

Because Alice ranked up her social link with Zero and Kyle, she gets special privileges now: she is allowed to walk around the Red Army HQ now, because being cooped up in a bedroom 24/7 is just dreadful! (As if that’s not what I do everyday anyway!)

Unfortunately her new found happiness doesn’t last long because the SAME FACELESS NAMELESS BODY GUARD FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE ROUTE makes a reappearance-- he tries to rescue Alice... alone! 🤦

Since this poor chap is nameless and faceless and thus does not have any plot armor, his rescue plan fails miserably as he’s brought to kneel before King Lancelot. The man deadass shish kabobs the poor soldier as Alice screams in horror and shock as blood spews everyone. Later, Alice decides to go down into the basement dungeon to check for herself if the soldier is really dead.... and if he’s not well I guess she can just watch him bleed to death then. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

She goes down just in time to see the soldier perfectly safe as Lancelot wipes his memory and sets him free. Huh maybe he’s not the Actual Worst after all. Somehow, Lancelot stabbed his hand instead of the soldier which I have NO IDEA how that’s supposed to work LOL!

The Black Army finally realize that letting a faceless nameless nobody protect Alice probably wasn’t the best idea and they demand that the Red Army return Alice to them or there will be consequences  (◉◞౪◟◉｀). While the Red Army soldiers are totally ready for a head on confrontation so they can shish kabob some Black Army soldiers for reals, Alice decides that she can’t leave this sexy man aka Lancelot alone and chooses to stay.

Lancelot’s all like “why tf are you still here” when he realizes that Alice chose to stay, but decides not to think too hard about it and makes up some bullshit lie about how the Black Army surrendered Alice to them, which of course the nameless soldiers eat up blindly because it seems like nobody in this damn army aside from the main five can think for themselves へ‿(ツ)‿ㄏ

Alice continues leveling up her social links with all the pretty bois and so she pretty much goes from their prisoner to their ward. You go girl. 

All the Red Army boys take a liking to Alice and they become the best of buds and it’s the sweetest thing ever! The only one left for Alice to rank up her social link with is Lancelot himself and so Alice starts cooking for Lancelot along with Jonah whos his number 1 fanboy lmao. Because clearly the way to win over an ice cold heartless king is through his stomach. Lancelot eventually begins to warm up to her and evolves from an asshole to a giant tsundere (ღ˘⌣˘ღ). And what do you know, her cooking for him actually had an effect because soon Lancelot realizes that he loves her.

My favourite part of this route was honestly the annual ball because the Red Army folks are all fancy pants. Since Lancelot is the sexiest man in the entire army, he has a line of women just itching to be his dance partner. Jonah, being Lance’s number 1 fanboy, can’t accept giving his King over to some sleazy tramp (pardon my language I’ve been playing too much Danganronpa Despair Girls), so he makes all the women line up for fucking interviews. 😂😂😂

Man and I thought Jumin was bad enough for making his marriage candidates hand in resumes. 

Jonah reels Edgar and Alice into helping him conduct the interviews but in the end Edgar and Alice are just chilling in the back of the room while Jonah rips each and every woman a new one for the most trivial of reasons. NO WONDER NONE OF THE RED ARMY BOYS HAVE WIVES.

Pretty soon they end up in a pickle because Jonah ended up rejecting every single woman who showed up to the interview! This plays out exactly how any shoujo manga would and Alice ends up being appointed by Jonah as Lancelot’s dance partner. The dance actually turns out to be great and romantic and Lancelot is surprisingly gentlemanly despite spending the first quarter of his route being an insufferable jackass but hey, I guess that’s what love does!

Unfortunately, the magic cult goons sense the love in the air and decide it’s time to interfere because no one can be happy on their watch! While Alice and Zero are out strolling about, the magic cult goons crash the party and beat poor Zero to a bloody pulp and kidnap Alice. Alice is taken to Amon’s sex dungeon where the maniac reveals that Lancelot and him are in cahoots but Alice is all like “no way fam Lancelot has better tastes than this”. Thankfully Lancelot arrives just in time to rescue our princess and they book it out of the Magic Tower. 

Meanwhile back HQ, Jonah wonders if the Black Army is responsible for attacking Zero but Edgar has his doubts. Oh well, Edgar’s doubts don’t flipping matter because ZERO’S FUCKING SQUAD GOES TO ATTACK THE BLACK ARMY ANYWAY WITHOUT ORDERS because they assume the Black Army is responsible with absolutely NO EVIDENCE! .+:｡(ﾉ･ω･)ﾉﾞ

WHAT THE HELL DOES NO ONE IN THIS FUCKING ARMY THINK FOR THEMSELVES?!?! WHAT’S UP WITH ALL DUMBASS SCENARIOS OF THESE SOLDIERS RUNNING ROGUE WITHOUT AUTHORITY. I think the whole “crimson glory” shtick is starting to get to the heads of these blood thirsty hooligans. 

Lancelot hears the news and rushes out to the battle field to thwart Zero’s squad’s attack ONLY TO OFFICIALLY DECLARE WAR ON THE BLACK ARMY RIGHT AFTER (((φ(◎ロ◎;)φ))). All the Red Army leaders are like ??????????? while the nameless soldiers are busting a nut in anticipation and excitement. 

Anyway Lancelot passes out due to using too much magic (again) and Kyle shits bricks (again) over his condition. After Lancelot awakens, Alice demands the truth from Lancelot and finally Lancelot spills his token tragic backstory to Alice, about how Amon is threatening the lives of his friends and soldiers unless Lancelot can absorb the Black Army into the Red.

Thankfully, Alice has a good head on her shoulders and realizes that Lancelot is going to use the war to distract Amon and then confront Amon alone to take him out. She freaks out because Lancelot really will fucking die this time (supposedly!) and tries to stop him but Lancelot locks her out of his bedroom so he can mope alone. Alice takes advantage of their rooms being connected and strolls in through their connecting door all like “ta-da, I’m here bitch” much to Lance’s chagrin. 

She cries and begs him not to confront Amon alone because she doesn’t want him die. Clearly the emotional heartache and heartbreak that both parties are going through sets the atmosphere for sexy time and they end up spending the night going bow chicka wow wow instead of.... having a proper and long overdue conversation to resolve the issue at hand smh. The next day rolls around and LANCELOT ERASES HER MEMORIES OF HIM. щ(ಥДಥщ)

THIS FUCKER LITERALLY JUST SUCKED TITTY AND BOUNCED. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

The day of the war as well as the full moon arrives and Lancelot fetches Jonah to escort Alice to the gates of hell garden portal. They arrive early and Jonah decides to kill time by telling her of a ~romantic~ fairy tale about how a prince went deaf and mute but regained his voice and hearing after his lady gave him a white rose.

(*TEARS UP* I’m a basic bitch that likes cheesy flower language in her otomes okay don’t judge me.)

Clearly Lancelot sucks at casting magic spells because the moment Alice sees the white rose the amnesia spell on her breaks and she regains her memories of Lancelot (wow that was easy). She spills the beans about Amon and his weed stash to Jonah and Jonah decides to bring Alice to the magic tower because no one messes with his king! I really liked how Jonah was respectful of Alice’s thoughts and opinions and didn’t just shove her into the portal before looking for Lancelot on his own (SIRIUS TAKE NOTES).

Lancelot confronts Amon and tells him that he’s already killed all the lackies that had access to Amon’s weed stash-- all that’s left is to kill Amon himself! Well despite the heroic shounen declarations, it ends pretty miserably because Lancelot gets his ass handed to him by this sad sack and when Amon is about release the final spell to kill Lancelot, Alice bursts into the room like a badass............and takes the shot full on 🤦🤦.

She crumples to the ground and now Lancelot is real pissed but hey at least the rage numbed the pain of his wounds because he stands up and pretty much destroys Amon in less than a second LOL.

Lancelot brings Alice back to the HQ while Jonah goes to stop the war since Amon’s dead and OH BOY KYLE REALLY FLIPS HIS SHIT because both Alice and Lancelot are an absolute hot mess. But since Alice’s wounds were inflicted with magic, Lancelot decides to use his remaining magic to heal her. Kyle tries to stop him going like “you’re gonna die you dimwit!!! (╬⁽⁽ ⁰ ⁾⁾ Д ⁽⁽ ⁰ ⁾⁾)” but Lance once again gives no fucks and is all like “I’m not gonna die! you’re here! :D” and proceeds to start healing Alice while Kyle rages in the background for the 20th time in the route.

Kyle @ everyone in this route.

Alice finally wakes up after a three day coma. Kyle’s fuse has been long overdue and it finally blows. He flips a table and rants about how much stress and heartache she and Lancelot both caused him. ((o(;△;)o))

NOOOOO I’M SO SORRY KYLE PLEASE DON’T CRY I LOVE YOU.

Alice leaves the room while Kyle just cries tears of joy because can finally catch a break (god damn this man deserves a raise and a vacation). Alice is greeted by the other Red Army bois who are ecstatic that she didn’t kick the bucket and it’s honestly the most sweetest and heart warming reunion ever ・゜・(ノД`).

HOLDS YOU ALL.................. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH I CAN’T EVEN START. I WILL DIE FOR YOU ALL.

Too bad Lancelot’s reaction to Alice’s awakening isn’t as great OTL.

Jonah brings Alice to see Lancelot (whos somehow alive) and he’s hella mad that Alice risked her life to protect him but Alice fires back that he tried to do the same and in the end they both get all mushy and make up.

BITCH THEN HOW ARE YOU ALIVE LMAO?? I don’t get this because it’s been stated over and over again that Lancelot will die if he uses up all his magic powers but clearly he’s alive and kicking! Did he survive through the power of love? WHO KNOWS LOL!

oof right in the feels.

Romantic Ending:

Alice continues cooking for Lancelot with Jonah (they’re so precious!). The Red Army boys tease Alice for her relationship with Lancelot; which Alice then realizes..... they’re not actually officially dating!

(CUE SIRIUS ROUTE FLASHBACKS COMING AT FULL SPEED).

THAT’S NOT A TRAIT TO BE PROUD OF LANCELOT.

I’m not the only one to freak out because so do all the Red Army boys!! They obviously can’t accept this so they arrange a date for Alice and Lancelot like the wingbros they are. Alice and Lancelot meet in the garden where they hug and confess their undying love for each other. ♥(ˆ⌣ˆԅ)

------

Honestly I’m gonna admit, I think Lancelot got overshadowed by all the other Red Army boys in his own route.... mainly Jonah lmao.  I like the dynamic between Lancelot and Alice at first but I wasn’t really feeling their relationship development towards the end and the suck titty and bounce stunt that Lancelot pulled really miffed me. Like I don’t mind sex scenes in a romance story but there’s a time and place for them you know? And when they’re randomly thrown in to substitute for actual communication it feels awkward. IDK maybe I’m just a prude who hates smut ROFL. Not to mention the amnesia shtick right after felt really trippy.

HOWEVER I did really like his romantic ending! It was well... really romantic lmao?? (what are words).

I loved the relationship between Alice and all the other boys! It was a joy to see her become incredibly close with all of them. I think you really see the best of each of the Red Army boys’ characters in Lancelot’s route as they all develop a friendship with Alice and grow to care for her. I wasn’t really a fan of the Red Army aside from Jonah at first but now I can say that I will die for them.

As for Lancelot himself, I’m honestly surprised as to how much I’ve grown to like him when I didn’t like him at all at first. I love the complexity of his character and his whole “I can just be an ordinary man” REALLY got to me ugh. 

Anywayyy his route was good, but not the best imo. I liked it a lot more than Sirius’s but Jonah’s route is still easily the best route for me. I’m moving onto Fenrir’s route now! I just have his, Edgar and Ray’s left to do.

[kimium]

Ten Things About Me

I was tagged by @tenebraetrash

 1. I can’t stand peanut butter or jam. In fact, most sweet breakfasts I cannot stand at all. Pancakes are a “once in a while” affair, and even then, I don’t like them too sweet. I also hate cereal with a burning passion. I’ve never liked it, though I can tolerate Cheerios and Rice Krispies if need be.

 2. Otome/ Reverse Harem games or anime are one of my weaknesses. Despite the “fan service” I think they can have some great writing and characters. Also, while I’m on the subject, if there is a childhood BFF character, consider that character the first route I play.

 3. One of my personal pet peeves is when people say “I told you so”. I feel it doesn’t allow someone to explore their options and instead belittles people from testing situations out themselves. Also, I feel it is code for “God, you’re so stupid, if only you listened to me, who clearly knows better than you.”

 4. I cracked the corner of my Japan phone, three weeks before I left the country, because I was raging against Fire Emblem Heroes.

  5. I love hot water for baths and showers. If my legs/ body isn’t lobster red afterwards, it wasn’t hot enough. Same goes for when I do dishes. Sometimes I just waste my bath away by soaking in the tub, letting the water turn cold, then filling the tub again with hot water.

 6.When I was a child, back when video rental stores were a thing, I accidentally walked into the horror section and saw the VHS cover of Child’s Play, and to this day, I’m utterly terrified of dolls/mannequins. I’m also terrified of wax figures because when I was about eight, my family took my sister and I to the Wax Museum in Victoria. Though, I have a strange fascination with lists of haunted places, abandoned places, etc.

 7. Getting me out of bed is a difficult task. I can laze hours away just being on my phone, while snuggling under the covers.

 8. I can function GPS fine when I drive, but the moment I use it to walk, I suddenly fall apart. For example, for my farewell party when I ended my contract teaching in Japan, I got lost walking to the restaurant. I was saved not by one, but three of my coworkers. When we got to the restaurant, two more of my coworkers were waiting by the elevator. Then, when I got upstairs to the private room in the restaurant, everyone started to clap. It was singularly one of the most embarrassing things I did while living in Japan. Also, my coworkers in Japan were amazed by my love of sake, as most of the foreigners they’ve met don’t like it.

 9. I got a massive crush on Megumi Ogata’s voice ever since I heard her as Haruka/Sailor Uranus from Sailor Moon. I also got a low-key crush on Romi Paku’s voice.

 10. My favourite jokes are “hilarious in hindsight” ones, like hit me up Trivia, let me know all of them. (My current favourite one is in DR1’s School Mode. The chalkboard is mimicking the infamous poster of SNK, with Naegi in Eren’s place. Funnily enough, Naegi’s English VA is Bryce Papenbrook who is Eren’s English VA. Sorry had to share.)

Since most of the people I tag are already tagged, everyone who wants to do this is welcome to.